AFL looks to go ahead with Thursday’s season opener

The AFL plans to go ahead with Thursday’s season opener in Brisbane, while keeping a close eye on Cyclone Alfred.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said no call has been made yet on the match between defending premiers Brisbane and Geelong at the Gabba.

He said at Monday’s season launch media conference in Sydney that contingency plans are in place if the game has to be moved because of the weather. The two teams have byes in round three.

Dillon said he had spoken with Lions chief executive Greg Swann on Sunday night and again on Monday morning.

“It (the forecast) has already slightly changed in the last 12 or 24 hours,” Dillon said.

“We’re three days out from the game … the game is scheduled for Thursday night.

“For every game we have contingencies and there are options with byes and the like. But at the moment, the game is schedule for Thursday night and the Lions are working towards that, as are Geelong and as are the AFL.

“The deadline will be when we know actually what’s going to happen. At the moment we’re talking about forecasts and … those forecasts have changed.”

Dillon said the league is liaising with local authorities about the weather.

“Our opening game is a big game, but it’s not the main game – the main game at this stage is for us to be in contact with the Queensland government and the bureau of meteorology,” he said.

“The main game is actually that the people of southeast Queensland and northern NSW are safe and that’s the focus now.”